This image of our mint plants was taken in our backyard on a frosty morning!
One easy herb to grow in the garden is mint. Mint is a heat and shade tolerant perennial herb that can be grown with little attention and thrives in a variety of geographical locations. Mint can be a bit of an unruly herb due to its rapid spreading, so if you don’t want your mint taking over an entire section of your garden its best to plant it in a raised bed or a container.
Planting
You can also plant mint directly in the ground as long as you provide some type of in-ground barrier to prevent it from spreading into areas you don’t want it in. Mint can grow to be around one to two feet tall and can produce white, pink or soft purple colored flowers depending on the variety you plant. Two or three baby mint plants placed in soft, well drained soil about two feet apart should be all you need to get started on your mint patch.
Harvesting
Mint can be harvested several times during the growing season. To harvest your mint, cut the stem of the plant a three to four inches from the ground (or to your desired height) right above the leaves. This type of pruning will be easier for the plant to make a quick recovery and continue to grow well for you. Mint is quite forgiving though so don’t worry about being over delicate when it comes to pruning.
I’ve taken large garden sheers and chopped away at a large patch and they come right back with the tenacity of a weed.
Uses
Once you’ve harvested your mint plants and cleaned them up with water, you can preserve them for later use in several ways. You can dry them out by either letting them air dry or placing them in a dehydrator. You can fill an empty ice tray full of water and add the mint leaves to the water. Once they freeze they’re great to drop into some sweet tea, or fruit drinks later. Mint has a variety of culinary uses as well. Sprinkle dried mint over lamb for seasoning, use the leaves as an addition to your salads, add them to your salsa preparations along with cilantro, make mint jellies or jams or even soak mint in a glass of water alongside strawberries, mangoes or other fruits to make flavored water to drink.
Mint has some medicinal uses as well. Mint is very nurturing to the stomach and eating some fresh leaves can help calm nausea and indigestion. I still remember as a child when my stomach felt bad my Grandma would send me out to the mint patch to eat a bunch of mint leaves and it always worked! Mint has been used as an anti-inflammatory and even a compress for sore muscles and joints. Drinking hot mint tea and inhaling the steam through the nostrils can help relieve congestion and sinus stuffiness. Packing dried mint into cheesecloth and placing it in a hot steamy bathtub can be very relaxing. Essential oil of mint is another way mint is used to help our physical well being. Mint essential oils can help soothe irritated skin from rashes, bug bites or stings and can even help with headaches. If you’re considering using mint essential oil, please follow the aromatherapist instructions on proper use.
Companion Planting
Mint is also a great companion herb for your garden. Planting mint by flowers such as roses and by food crops such as tomatoes helps repel aphids. Mint can also assist in deterring bugs from your leafy crops like cabbage and kale. Other food crops that will benefit from mint are carrots, peas, beets, lettuce, and even squash due to the insect repelling nature of mint. The smell of the mint seems to be one of the best qualities for deterring winged and crawling garden pests.
With all there is to love about mint, we hope you treasure growing it as much as we do. Mint will always be a welcome addition to our garden!
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